R v Geddes
Being found in a school toilet with a kidnapping kit was not an attempt, because the defendant had not had any contact with a pupil.
Facts
Mr Geddes, who had no connection with the school, was found by a teacher in the boys' toilets of a school. He ran off, leaving behind a rucksack containing a large kitchen knife, rope and a roll of masking tape. He had not had any contact with any pupil. He was convicted of attempted false imprisonment.
Legal principle
The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction. Lord Bingham CJ said that the line between preparation and attempt is often difficult to draw, but the question was whether the defendant had actually tried to commit the offence, or had only got ready, put himself in a position or equipped himself to do so. Although there was no doubt about Mr Geddes's intention, he had never had any communication or contact with any pupil, and his acts were merely preparatory.
Related cases on inchoate offences and accessorial liability
- Attorney General's Reference (No 1 of 1975) [1975] QB 773
- Attorney General's Reference (No 1 of 1992) [1993] 1 WLR 274
- DPP for Northern Ireland v Maxwell [1978] 1 WLR 1350
- Haughton v Smith [1975] AC 476
- National Coal Board v Gamble [1959] 1 QB 11
- R v Anderson [1986] AC 27
- R v Bainbridge [1960] 1 QB 129
- R v Becerra and Cooper (1975) 62 Cr App R 212
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